Archive for the ‘Soccer’ tag

As the 2018 World Cup in Russia approaches and the games begin June 14th, anticipation with fans and marketers is building. Many big-name players in FIFA are ambassadors for some of the most notable brands in the world, such as Cristiano Ronaldo for Nike, Herbalife and Tag Heuer and Neymar for Red Bull, Gillette and Panasonic. These players are over saturated with current sponsors which creates barriers for new brands to partner with them due to high clutter, high cost and category exclusivity. This leads sponsors to determine who the most marketable up and coming players are in the league. To help determine this, we sat down with Artsy Biba, one of our in-house soccer specialists, to create a list of five players marketers should have on their radar at this year’s 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Mallika Pereira and Alma Angeles from Major League Soccer/Soccer United Marketing AT MKTG Atlanta

Last Thursday, MKTG Atlanta hosted the latest iteration of their “Storytellers” series, this time featuring our clients Mallika Pereira and Alma Angelesfrom Major League Soccer/Soccer United Marketing.

“Storytellers” is an up-close-and-personal Q&A session hosted with clients, partners and other influencers in the Atlanta office and a huge success we hope to roll out at other offices.

Mallika and Alma began with a tour of the Atlanta office, including our highly impressive fully-stocked and organized 40,000 square foot warehouse followed by a cocktail hour, and, finally, the “Storytellers” hour-long Q&A covering their respective career paths, what they believe makes a great leader, and their person goals and aspirations. They were both so inspiring and impressive.

They also shared the case study on the hugely successful Batalla Viewing Party concepted and produced by MKTG in collaboration with MLS/SUM to celebrate the highly-anticipated US vs Mexico National Team game in Los Angeles. You can also learn more about the program HERE as it was featured on the Dentsu Aegis UNBOXED series this month.

With over 70% of the Atlanta office attending, it was a wildly successful addition to the series. Stay tuned for the next one!

Last week on May 27th on the rooftop of Niketown in midtown Manhattan, Nike premiered the Hypervenom II cleats exclusively for dozens of girls from the Intense Soccer Academy’s U17 and U10 teams. In addition to trialing the brand new cleat, the soccer fanatics were taken through drills like the pros by members of the US Women’s National Team. In between tears of joy and excitement, the girls got to play alongside their idols who they will be cheering on come next week when the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off in Canada. GO USA!

Some of the girls from the ISA’s U10 team eagerly awaiting their surprise…and they had no idea it would be the members of the US Women’s National Soccer Team

The group before their workout on the roof of Niketown NYC with the USWNT

The Hypervenom II is available for trials in the Women’s World Cup Box at Niketown New York exclusively and will be available for sale on June 4th.

*Note: the use of the word “football is used throughout this post, in reference to what Americans call “soccer,” and we are sticking to the global term since well … you see the title, don’t you?

As you may remember, on May 26 and May 31 at Emirates Stadium in London and Sinatra Park in Hoboken, NJ, respectively, MKTG INC gave an unreal experience to 240 local athletes (http://blg.mktg.com/2014/05/the-real-work-of-gatorade/) to build excitement around the UAW online contest.

The winners were finally announced in June, and we took them on the football trip of a lifetime. Our fabulous winners represented the United States, Canada, England and Brazil. As we got to know them and their guests over our 17-day trip, we all became a second family.

The boys received full fitness testing, including physical and psychological, with the experts at GSSI. A full report was given to them on their last day, along with the recommended Gatorade formula for them to use moving forward while sweating on the pitch. Of course, all that hard work had to be rewarded, so we had a special guest come and work out with our winners on the last day – none other than USMNT player Graham Zusi!

Photo credit: Eric Nalpas

Graham competed with the boys in a “crossbar challenge” to finish off the session. Our Canadian representative won, and got to keep Graham’s boots!

Liverpool, England – Liverpool FC (July 30 – August 1)

Jetlag be damned! After about a day’s rest, the boys suited up and made it over to Anfield for a full tour of the stadium, taking in some facts about Liverpool FC’s history and hearing insider stories from LFC legend Jason McAteer.

After a quick lunch, we scooted over to Melwood, the official training ground of Liverpool. The Junior U16 coaches ran a highly individualized training session for our winners, with specific instruction on spatial awareness on the pitch. Let me say that again, we were at Liverpool! Training with the pros! You could almost hear the opening chords of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” ….

Photo credit: Mark Waugh

London, England – Arsenal FC (August 2 – 4)

The express train from Liverpool was smooth and luxurious (well, compared to the LIRR), and two hours later we were in London, heading straight for Emirates Stadium. The Emirates Cup was going on during our visit and the boys had VIP treatment with a tour of the facility and then access to a luxury suite to watch the matches. But don’t be fooled … London was not all relaxation.

The next morning we woke up to beautiful sunny skies and about 75° F (24° C) temperatures – the perfect morning for a football workout at Battersea Park! The Community Coaches from Arsenal met us and ran the session, focusing on overall fitness and one-on-one drills. We even got our client to join in on the workout, although as a former NFL wide receiver, he gave our winners no shot at the final sprint challenge.

Photo credit: Felippe Imperatriz

Barcelona, Spain – FC Barcelona (August 4 – 5)

Barcelona was the favorite club among most of our winners, and you can imagine the excitement they felt as we pulled up to Camp On. The boys had the opportunity to train at La Masia with the Barcelona Youth Coach. Fully kitted up in their training attire, the winners were instructed in drills that were team-based with passing and moving as the center of the activity.

Photo credit: Luiza Iacava

Milan, Italy – AC Milan (August 5 – 7)

At AC Milan’s training facility, better known as Milanello, we were welcomed with open arms. As soon as we walked in, we were offered an array of Gatorade beverages, biscuits and, of course, espresso.

After a full tour of the grounds and workout facilities, we were served lunch and then bid the boys off to do another set of fitness testing. Different from GSSI, these tests focused on reaction time, plyometrics and balance.

What better way to prepare for a 17-hour flight…

Buenos Aires, Argentina – Boca Juniors (August 8 – 9)

Our last day in Buenos Aires had us training with the Boca Juniors B-Team coach. It was a fantastic session; the boys had the freedom to play some small-sided games against each other with some of the guests joining in.

Photo credit: Federico Peretti

Rio de Janeiro – Brasil (August 9 – 12)

The final send-off! We had to show these boys we know how to celebrate football!

The first day took us to Maracanã for a Flamengo match, which was high-intensity the whole way through. The crowd and the chants did not stop.Finally, the next day we were off to Granja Comary, the home of CBF.

Photo Credit: Derek Mangabeira

Our friends in Brazil had a surprise in store for us; they brought in a local Nike academy to have a full-sided match! This is the first time we had the opportunity to play 11 v 11 on the pitch; a real treat, especially since we were again able to involve our guests.

Photo Credit: Derek Mangabeira

On our last day, we wanted to show the boys local beach culture. Gatorade provided their local experts in the sport of futevôlei, and they ran through a full workout and tutorial. The winners picked it up immediately, and practically owned Copacabana Beach…well, their attitudes said they did anyway ;-)

Overall, it was such an honor to work with Gatorade on such a special project, and communicate the message of putting in real work for an unreal performance. Thanks to everyone who made this program such a success, from the Gatorade clients to the contest champions to all the MKTGers around the globe! Just a reminder to #makeitunreal every day, no matter what you do.

It’s that special time in the sports world that only arrives every 4 years, when Americans realize that the beautiful game is back and ready to fill their Summer sports malaise, where the only other news of note is the exciting stretch run of only 92 games to go in the baseball season.

To capitalize on the energy around the World Cup and the world’s most popular sport (deal with it, America), Nike launched the latest in a series of innovative soccer-based campaigns with RISK EVERYTHING: a challenge to all footballers to take chances and play with a creativity that takes the game to its highest and most entertaining level (deal with it, Spain).

To harness and amplify that creativity, NIKE developed a 4 v 4 tournament unlike any other: Winner Stays. With a unique set of rules and a winner stays on mentality that throws brackets to the curb, Nike and MKTG INC set out to the crown the best in NYC amidst concrete arenas in the heart of the city.

Pearl St. Plaza – Brooklyn Qualifier Pier 26 – Manhattan Qualifier

Over 680 players and 120 teams battled it out at the Brooklyn and Manhattan Qualifiers for a chance to advance to the Finals. Set against iconic, unexpected locations in the two boroughs, the events drove home the city-based inspiration with locally relevant artists and food trucks. With 5 teams from each Qualifier moving on to the Finals, it was time to prepare for a championship setting unlike any other.

With the flight deck of the USS Intrepid playing host to the Finals and conjuring up memories of one of the best NIKE Soccer campaigns of all time, the Risk Everything mantra reached a fever pitch (pun intended), as players battled it out in front of 1,100 fans. The NY Finals were held first, as the top 10 teams from the qualifiers fought to be crowned the NY Champion. After The Wild emerged victorious, it was time to take on the LA champion (who had been flown in for the evening) to be crowned the best in the USA. As a precursor to the Stanley Cup Finals, LA (got lucky and) took home the victory. Finally, a trophy celebration amidst a 3-minute firework show that would wow even the boldest of pyros brought the Winner Stays tournament to a close.

Nike’s campaign for creativity and boldness keeps rolling as the World Cup kicks into high gear, and with the Group Stage on pace to provide the highest scoring tournament of all time, it seems like the world has heard the message.*

With the World Cup under way…interesting article in the NY Times about different national approaches to growing soccer talent. Seems we’re doing it wrong. It’s a long article, so if you can’t manage the reading, I broke it down.

3 million kids play soccer here—we play way too many games at the expense of training and teaching skills. We produce incredibly fit players with little imagination. The Dutch have an amazing system for churning out high level players. The Dutch are mirthless automatons. And college soccer is a complete waste of critical development time (I can attest to that).